Police help for deaf people

Two new DVDs have been produced to provide information to deaf people who use British Sign Language (BSL) as their first or preferred language.

The DVDs have been pioneered by Lancashire Constabulary to help deaf people who are brought into custody or who are stopped and searched on the streets.

The custody DVD is presented by a qualified BSL interpreter and is played to deaf people who have been arrested in order to explain their rights whilst in custody. It also contains information such as the cell environment, food, drink, exercise, notification of arrest and breath test procedure, if necessary.

The stop-and-search DVD is aimed at providing reassurance to those who are stopped and searched under Section 44 of the Terrorist Act 2000. The information is presented in BSL with visual background footage.

It is hoped that the DVD can be transferred onto a memory stick to then be played on a hand held personal digital assistant (PDA).

Other forces are now able to purchase the DVDs which have been put together as a package from Lancashire Police at http://www.lancashire.police.uk